Kirill Relikh Shines, Stops Lopez in Monaco
Oct 3, 2015 • 1:53 AM ET
By Alexey Sukachev
WBA/IBF #10 rated light welterweight Kirill Relikh came back in action yesterday at Gymnase du Lycee Technique de Monaco, Principauté de Monaco, Monaco. Relikh was the headliner of a tiny card, organized co-jointly by a former superstar of the very same weight class in Ricky Hatton and Philippe Fondu of the World Sport Promotions.
Relikh (20-0, 18 KOs) of Minsk, Belarus, proved his power once again, dominating and outboxing Argentinean opponent Christian Ariel Lopez (18-3-1, 10 KOs) before stopping him in the fifth round. Relikh, 25, defended his WBA I/C title for the first time.
On the undercard, lightweight Adam Little (14-0, 2 KOs) outpointed French journeyman Sylvain Chapelle (14-21-2) unanimously over six rounds. Scores were: 58-56, 58-55 and 59-54 – for Little. Interestingly, Chapelle has never been stopped but he has never scored a stoppage win himself too, all of his 37 fights going the full distance.
19-year old Ukrainian Fedor Cherkashin (5-0, 3 KOs) scored a unanimous decision over game Frenchman Victor Garcia (7-6-3). Scores were: 60-54, 60-54 and 59-55 – for Cherkashin.
Also, another Belarussian Alexander Kulbinok (2-1, 1 KOs) was upset by unheralded Samuel Boulogne (5-5-1, 2 KOs), losing unanimously over six: 59-54 (twice) and 58-55.
